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Saturday, June 26, 2010

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) invited 135 people on Friday to join its membership and be eligible to vote for the Academy Awards. At the time of the Academy Awards in March, the Academy membership numbered 5,777. The Academy potentially could have invited as many as 180 this year, but some branches did not invite as many as they could have.

Some of the invitees include nominees and winners from the recent Oscar race, such as actors Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Mo'Nique, Gabourey Sidibe, Peter Sarsgaard, Jeremy Renner, and Christoph Waltz. Some others were not nominated, but are recognizable names like James Gandolfini, Ryna Reynolds and Zoe Saldana. But some were relative unknowns like Shaun Toub and George Wyner.

The invitees are nominated by members of their branches in the Academy. The Actors' branch is the largest. The Directors' branch invited a diverse international group including Best Foreign Film nominees Jacques Audiard (A Prophet) and Juan Jose Campanella (The Secret in Their Eyes). The Music branch invited Bono and The Edge from the group U2, as well as the undistinguished Brian Tyler whose undistinguished credits include Fast & Furious and Aliens vs. Predator Requiem.

An invitation-only reception takes place in
September for new members at the Academy's Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture
Study in Beverly Hills.

Documentary
Nancy Baker -- Rehearsing a Dream, Born into Brothels
Rick Goldsmith -- The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press
Davis Guggenheim -- It Might Get Loud, An Inconvenient Truth
Tia Lessin -- Capitalism: A Love Story, Trouble the Water
Cara Mertes -- The Betrayal, My Country, My Country
Frazer Pennebaker -- Al Franken: God Spoke, The War Room
Julia Reichert -- The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant, Seeing Red
Morgan Spurlock -- Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?, Super Size Me